- Retired due to Alzheimers.
- His father was a Los Angeles public school teacher. Hanson said he is approached all the time by former students of his father, Mr. Hanson. They always have kind things to say about his dad.
- Directed one Oscar-winning performance: Kim Basinger in L.A. Confidential (1997).
- He has directed one film that has been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: L.A. Confidential (1997).
- After dropping out of high school in his senior year, he became the entertainment editor for the Cal State L.A. campus newspaper, despite the fact that he was not a student there. His uncle owned a magazine called "Cinema", where Hanson worked as a gofer and eventually became editor and art director. He interviewed many Hollywood legends, including John Ford, Vincente Minnelli, William Wyler and Dalton Trumbo.
- Was briefly the editor for "Cinema" magazine.
- Ranked #90 in Premiere's 2003 annual Power 100 List.
- His father was a conscientious objector during WWII and worked on a construction crew doing road repairs.
- A former photographer and freelance writer.
- He dropped out of high school to work as a photographer, writer and editor for the film magazine "Cinema", which was owned by his uncle "It was, in a sense, my film school," Hanson reported in a 2002 interview with the Guardian. He began screenwriting and directing in the early 1970s, but didn't see serious success until he directed The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (1992). That film, which starred Rebecca De Mornay as a revenge-seeking nanny, became a major hit. Hanson went on to direct The River Wild (1994) with Meryl Streep and Kevin Bacon. Bacon wrote Tuesday night, September 20, 1916, on Twitter, "Riding that river with him was one of the greatest gigs of my life." Hanson also was in the director's chair for Wonder Boys (2000), starring Tobey Maguire and Michael Douglas that is considered his best work by many fans and critics. His breakthrough as an acclaimed filmmaker came with L.A. Confidential (1997), which he co-wrote and directed. Hanson won a screenwriting Oscar for the film. He was lauded for taking James Ellroy's massive novel about cops, criminals and tabloid rags in 1950s Los Angeles and streamlining it into a thriller without losing its nuance. Hanson also directed Eminem's tale of Detroit hip-hop, 8 Mile (2002). On Sept. 20, 2016, paramedics were called to Hanson's home in the Hollywood Hills, and after an examination he was pronounced dead. He was declared to have died of natural causes, but there were no details given (he was known to have been suffering from Alzheimer's Disease). Eminem was among many who worked with Hanson who paid tribute to him after his death. "Curtis Hanson believed in me and our crazy idea to make a rap battle movie set in Detroit," he said in a statement. "He basically made me into an actor for '8 Mile.' I'm lucky I got to know him".
- In 1999 he was the first chairman of the UCLA Film and Television Archive.
- Member of the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Directors Branch) from 2001-.
- Has a son, Rio (b. 28 November 2004) with companion Rebecca Yeldham.
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